A milestone came and went last week without notice for a man on a field named after him who coaches a team that has known no other coach.

Dan Dulchinos coached his 1,000th high school baseball game on April 14, a 13-9 loss for Chicopee Comprehensive to Holyoke High School on Dulchinos Field.

“I forgot all about it, too,” Dulchinos said this week. “It’s no big deal. You think of milestones when you win, like 300 wins or 500 wins. When you’re healthy you can coach that many games.”

A veteran of 48 seasons at the helm of the Comp baseball team, Dulchinos is the only coach the Colts have had since the school opened in 1962.

Dulchinos said he was aware of the milestone before the season, but thought nothing more of it. He said that number of games speaks to longevity more than anything else, and he knows who to thank for that.

“I’ve been fortunate to have pretty good health and a wife that is understanding because you’re away a lot,” Dulchinos said. “And I’ve had good kids, and having good kids makes it fun.”

This season has been rough so far for the 78-year-old coach. The Colts are 0-5 and struggling. Dulchinos said Comp had 47 players try out for the three teams, which is good, but a lot of them did not have much baseball experience.

These days high schoolers have so many interests, and many do not play summer baseball. Also, the reality of single-parent households makes it more difficult on the student-athlete.

“It’s a little more difficult but the kids, as long as they enjoy it and work hard, it’s worth it,” Dulchinos said.

He has seen many of his former players go on to be coaches themselves at the high school, prep school and college level, and has even coached against some of them.

But Dulchinos is even prouder of his players who have gone on to be successful off the diamond and said he hopes it was something they learned while competing in baseball that helped them be successful in life.

His record stands at 630-371-1, and while he admits to coaching being more of a challenge these days and to needing help on the bench, the dean of baseball coaches in Western Massachusetts is not ready to call it a day.

“I didn’t think I’d go this long after retiring as a teacher, and that was 15 years ago,” Dulchinos said. “I decided to stay one or two years to get 500 wins and I never expected to reach 600 wins.

“But I’m no longer chasing any total wins and if I’m slowing down and think the kids need a change, I’ll step down,” he added. “I can’t tell you right now if I’m going to coach next year or the year after that or the year after that. It’s day to day.”